A TRADITIONAL GREEK STEW OF LAMB SLOWLY COOKED WITH ONIONS, TOMATO, AND WARM SPICES

This afternoon I had no idea what to make for dinner. I did have a lamb chop and some pearl onions I did not use for Thanksgiving dinner.

I remembered my mom would make a simple braised piece of meat, usually beef, in a small metal braising pan. I have that pan now.. I decided to put it to use and make a quick version of lamb stifado.

Lamb stifado is a classic Greek stew made with tender lamb, onions, tomatoes, and warm spices.

Regular lamb stifado is more complex than this version. You would brown the meat before simmering really slow on the stovetop with tomato, spices and onions. Sometimes with a potato in there also. Stifado is traditionally made with small onions or pearl onions, so I was set up.

I decided to skip the browning. I just tossed the lamb pieces with some olive oil and tomato paste. I placed it all in the pan with the pearl onions, a cinnamon stick, cloves, and allspice. I added a piece of garlic and a splash of red wine to give it a braising liquid.

It was kind of a tight fit, and put in maybe a 1/4 cup of wine. Any more would bubble right out.

Placed it in a 350 oven and let it go until the meat was fall apart tender, about 90 minutes. Wow. It was fantastic.

Remember this option if you have a spare piece of meat to cook off, or for a night alone, or just a small main.

This is a keeper. Here’s the recipe:

Lamb Stifado

A simple Greek lamb stew

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 29 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 lb lamb cut into 1 inch pieces and fat trimmed off. I used a leg slice
• 10 pearl onions
• 2 cloves garlic left whole
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove
• 2 allspice berries
• 1/4 cup red wine
• salt
• pepper

Equipment

• 1 braising pan

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut lamb into one inch pieces. You can use lamb leg, lamb chops, whatever you have. trim the fat and place pieces in a bowl
   1.5 lb lamb
3. Add olive oil, tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss together.
   1.5 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp oregano, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper
4. Place into small pan that has a lid. Tuck in onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and allspice berries.
   10 pearl onions, 2 cloves garlic, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove, 2 allspice berries
5. Add just enough wine to keep from getting dry. I used 1/4 of a cup. It went about halfway up the level of the meat.
   1/4 cup red wine
6. Let it cook for about 90 minutes. Check to make sure it is not dry. It’s ready when the meat is fork tender.

Notes

This surely can be made with beef, chicken, or pork also. Give it a shot!

I served it with a bunch of lemony roasted potatoes.

This surely can be made with beef, chicken, or pork also. Give it a shot!

OPA!